This invention relates broadly to the field of food processing machines, and more specifically to a poultry, or other animal meat, skinning machine that removes skin and other non-muscular tissue from opposing sides of cuts of meat, such as a poultry thigh.
Over the last several decades, there has been an increase in demand for poultry products. Many new product forms have arisen wherein the outer skin is removed from the underling muscle portion before the product is prepared or processed further. Historically, skinning of a poultry product was carried out manually in the food industry at significant labor cost, high potential for injury, and at a certain level of inconsistency of performance attendant to any manual chore of this type.
It is known in the art that there is a need for efficient and safe machines to process meats generally, and poultry in particular. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,264,542; 6,699,116; and 8,187,060, all to Gasbarro and all of which are herein incorporated in this application by reference, were substantial advances in the technology relating to the skinning of poultry. These patents disclose machines that avoid the danger to humans of hand-skinning, and provide continuous, consistent results. Although these patents teach machines with many advantages, further refinement of the conventional technology is desired. Therefore, there is a need for an improved poultry skinning machine, particularly one that reliably removes skin from both sides of the poultry piece without requiring humans to manipulate the poultry piece.